Bag closure



May 14, '1957 v JJA. J. GARCON 2,792,168

v BAG CLOSURE Filed Sept. 8, 1952 BAG CLOSURE .lean Andr Jules Garon, Paris, France Application September 8, 1952, Serial No. 308,438

1 Claim. (Cl. 229-65) This invention concerns an. openingV and closing device for tlat end containers made of deformable material such as paper, regenerated cellulose, celluloseI acetate, rubber, synthetic materials, plastic materials etc.

This device is characterized in that one4 at leastof the two lips of said aperture is extended beyond the closure lip said extension being folded inwards and in that, in the portion capable of being opened, one of the lips of the device is reinforced or stifenedby a band offering qualities of iiexibility and/or elasticitydifferent from those of the material constituting the lips.

Said folded extension is preferably made of the same material constituting the lips of the container; the reinforcing band is made of any suitable material capable of elastic deformations, such as a metal or a plastic material.

Under such conditions, the opening of the container is effected by a simple flexing of said band in the direction of increasing concavity (or decreasing convexity) of the inner face of the lip reinforced by said band, the closure is effected automatically by elasticity or deformation in the opposite direction, of said band, tightness being made excellent by the action of the extension folded inwards.

in the manufacturing methods shown, applied to a tube with at ends:

Figures l and 2 are front and back Views, in elevation, of such a tube.

Figure 3 is a sectional View along line III- III of Figure 2, of the opening and closing device for the container, in the closed position.

Figure 4 shows the same view but in the open position.

Figures 5 and 6 are front and back elevational views of a tube having flattened frusto conical ends, provided each with an opening and closing device.

In Figures l and 2, A designates the front lip or wall and B the rear lip or wall of a tube l having flattened ends. The extension P of the lip or wall B is shown in dotted lines in its folded position C. The band 2 surrounds the tube at D E F and offers a solution of continuity between E and F. This band is associated with the tube by folding or crimping, for instance, of the ends E and F against the portion D, thereof. This folding also associates the folded extension C with the wall B of the tube, laterally, on both sides.

According to Figure 3, which shows, in section, this same opening and closing device for the tube 1 (in its closed position), the band 2 is folded at E and F against the portion D and this crimping unites the two edges of the walls A and B between which is the folded extension C of the wall B, with which it is now associated, both by its own foldingl and by the crimping of the parts E and F against D. It is applied against the wall A and thus seals the closure.

Figure 4 shows how the opening is effected by merely exing the device. The extension C has followed the motion of curvature of the wall B with which it is associated, and moved away from the wall A, leaving between it and itself the aperture O, the size of which denited States Patent pends on the interval between E and F and on the radius of curvature imposed on the whole.

In the type of embodiment shown in Figures 5 and 6 which concerns a tube with its ends attened as shown, provided with opening and closing devices, the tube 11 is divided into two portions G and H by a separation J, obtained for example by a local gluing of its two walls A and B. The band 12 offers the shape shown so as to iit the shape of the ends of the tube 1l, and is folded obliquely at E and F along the two sides at the top against the portion D. In such a case, the crimping affects a small rectilinear portion M of the walls A and B' of the tube. The extension P of the wall B, in its folded position, C, is associated with the wall B laterally on both sides.

The band l2 may consist of an elastic material such that it resumes by itself a plane shape, ensuring the closing of the tube as soon as it is no longer subjected to a curvature. It may also have such a shape that it covers the walls of the tube and that the folding of the portions Efand Fy over the portion D be eifected about the line of closure instead of being effected about the sides of the container.

The material of which the band is made may be a metal, a plastic material or any other material with which the desired curvature may easily be obtained by means of the lingers, but capable of preserving this curvature in the absence of a willful action.

The dimensions of this band may vary, both in thickness and width, depending on the flexibility of the material constituting it and on the width of the tube and the size of the aperture it is desired to obtain. The width and length dimensions of this band also depend on the very shape of the ends of the tube walls. This band surrounds the tube except on the wall opposite the extension where a solution of continuity is provided having a length proportional to the desired aperture. The tube walls are associated with this band by any suitable means such as folding, gluing, etc.

It will thus be seen that in its open position, this extension P is moved away from the other wall while, in its closed position, it is in contact therewith and thus seals the tube. Should a pressure be exerted on the deformable walls of the tube, the latter transmit it to the powdered or fluid product contained therein. The product, in turn, exerts a pressure between the extension and the wall with which it is associated, a pressure which tends to apply this extension against the opposite wall and tightness is thus obtained, the more so as the pressure is higher.

The extension is not free. It is already associated, on the side of its folding with the wall of which it is an extension. It is also associated therewith by crimping its sides in the crease of the portions E and F against D. Thus the spacing of the extension end opposite its crease which occurs with respect to the wall carrying it, depends on the clearance left on this extension at the time of its lateral attachment on the wall with which it is associated, on the elasticity of the material constituting it and on the pressure obtaining inside the container.

The open position is obtained, according to the invention by a simple flexing, elfected manually giving the lips of the closing device a curvature in the same direction for each one of them. These two lips, in the closed position, being in contact, one with the folded extension of the other assume when bent, the shapes of circular arcs with different centers and tend to move away from each other more and more as the radius of curvature imposed decreases. A moment is reached when the free end of the extension, along the bend of the lip with which it is associated, is no longer in contact with the opposite lip and the opening of the tube is thus effected. By

ce Patented May 14, 1957r 3 f increasing the radius of curvature to innnity for instance, the ends of the tube lips assume the shapes of atter and ilatter circular arcs, to finally reach a rectilinear shape corresponding to the closing of the tube since at that time the extension of one wall is in contact with the opposite wall. It is even possible, to secure a still stronger sealing, subject initially the band of the tube lips to a bending in the direction opposite that exerted for opening.

The shape and dimensions of the extension of one or two of the walls of the tube might have at variable ends depending on the size of the opening desired and the type of product contained in the container and the material constituting the extension. This extension may consist either of the same material as the Wall or a different material. These various factors might eliminate the necessity for folding the lateral extension firmly to the two sides of the wall of which it is an extension.

The lip extension may be made of a dilerent material than the lip.

What is claimed is:

A container of non-extensible deformable material having an opening opened by bending comprising a at end forming two lips, an extension upon one of said lips having at its origin the width of said lip and a diminishing width starting from the edge of said lip, said extension being folded at the interior of said lips making an acute angle of variable size and forming a valve when the lips are substantially rectilinear, a band of exible material reinforcing one of said lips upon at least a portion of its length, said band being attached permanently upon said lips in two lateral zones while allowing a free space at the middle of one of said lips so that when said fiat end forming said lips is bent inwardly with the reinforcing band at the side of the convexity, the angle of said extension with the lip which carries it is counteracted and the other lip is spaced therefrom, forming an opening and said band comprising a strip the central portion of which covers entirely one of said lips and the two ends thereof being folded over the sides of the other lip, leaving the middle portion thereof free.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 820,067 Richardson May 8, 1906 1,282,761 Combes Oct. 29, 1918 1,352,972 Kimbark Sept. 14, 1920 1,467,009 Peterson Sept. 4, 1923 1,625,968 Ware Apr. 26, 1927 2,080,402 Herman May 18, 1937 2,499,799 Traska Mar. 7, 1950 2,572,686 Andre Oct. 23, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 121,056 Sweden Jan. 8, 1948 273,413 Switzerland May 1, 1951 808,362 Germany July 12, 1951 

